Apparatus for dyeing textile strands



Sept. 29, 1970 w. DIMOND ETAL APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE STRANDS Original Filed Jan. 26, .1965

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS W m w Q w i: W WA i f w .8 8 8. g

Sept. 29, 1910 w. DIMOND EI'AL APPARATUS 'FOR DYEING TEXTILE STRANDS Original Filed Jan. 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

INVENTORS WlLLiAM DIMOND IRVING BRAWER ATTORNEY Sept. 29, 1970 w. DIMOND El'AL 3,530,693

APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE STRANDS Original Filed Jan. 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTORS WlLLlAM DIMOND lRVlNG BRAWER BY @MWX ATTORNEY Sept. 29, 1970 y w, mo ETAL 3,530,693

APPARATUS Fon nmme TEXTILE STRANDS Original Filed Jan. 26. 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet FIG. 5

a V///////J FIG. 6

WILLIAM mom) IRVING BRAWER BY 19M MW United States Patent 3,530,693 APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE STRANDS William Dimond, Wayne, and Irving Brawer, Fair Lawn, N.J., assignors to Empire Piece Dyeing & Finishing Co., Inc., Haledon, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application Jan. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 428,133. Divided and this application July 30, 1969, Ser.

Int. Cl. B05c 1/04 US. Cl. 68-202 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This application is a divisional application of our copending application Ser. No. 428,133 filed Jan. 26, 1965.

This invention relates to textile dyeing machines generally and more particularly to a new and improved dyeing machine and method for simultaneously dyeing a plurality of individual strands of fibrous material such as wool, cotton and similar textiles with multiple colors.

Numerous dyeing machines and methods have ben previously employed in the dyeing or printing of textile material, and many of these machines are especially adapted for the dyeing of individual strands or threads which are to be subsequently woven or formed into intricate patterns composed from varying shades of color. Many new dyeing methods and machine constructions have been recently developed to improve previous dyeing techniques and to permit the achievement of new patterns and colors. However, there is an ever increasing demand for new and improved textile products which incorporate new patterns and colors.

Recent advances in textile dyeing techniques have led to the dyeing of single strands of textile material in multiple colors. The dyeing of single strands with a pattern of clearly defined but differing colors has proven particularly advantageous in carpet manufacturing where a unique and pleasing carpet pattern may be achieved through the employment of strands of yarn dyed in this manner. Yarns so colored are even more desirable when the individual strands of yarn contain a random distribution of multiple colors in a non-repetitive pattern.

To accomplish the effective dyeing of individual strands of yarn or similar textile material with a random pattern of multiple colors, it is necessary to overcome a variety of problems which are caused by the physical characteristics of a yarn or similar textile strand which is composed of a multiplicity of individual filaments. For example, in conventional printing or dyeing machines, the dyeing process often leads to abrasion or filament separation when strands of yarn are run through the machine, and the resulting broken filaments wrap around machine parts to cause fouling and clogging. Additionally, conventional dyeing machines apply color to a textile strand by a surface printing process which, in a multi-color operation, may result in smudging and also a failure to penetrate each filament of the strand to achieve complete and effective dyeing.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel and improved dyeing machine for simultaneously dyeing each one of a multiplicity of textile strands to provide individual strands whch are dyed with a plurality of colors.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved dyeing machine capable of selectively dyeing a plurality of individual textile strands with multiple colors in either a random or a repetitive pattern.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved dyeing machine for dyeing a plurality of individual textile strands with a plurality of colors which includes an improved dyeing head construction to insure penetration of dye into each filament of a multifilament textile strand.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved dyeing machine for dyeing a plurality of textile strands with a multiplicity of colors which includes a novel belt dye head conveyor unit to preclude strand separation and smudging of the dyed textile strands.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved dyeing machine for dyeing a plurality of textile strands with a multiplicity of colors which operates effectively to preclude strand abrasion or filament separation during the dyeing process.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved dyeing machine for dyeing a plurality of individual textile strands with a multiplicity of colors which is adapted to prevent the fouling and clogging of machine components by broken or abraided strand filaments.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method for dyeing individual textile strands with a plurality of colors.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel and 'improved method for dyeing individual strands with a plurality of colors While preventing filament drift and strand separation during the dyeing process.

The above and further objects and details of this invention will be readily apparent upon a consideration of the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings in which.

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional elevational view of the dyeing machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the dyeing machine of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional front elevation view of the oscillating comb employed with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a combination front elevational view and electrical schematic diagram illustrating the blanket guide employed with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view illustrating the dyeing section of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partially sectional side elevational view of the dyeing section of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a take-up cylinder structure employed with the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the novel dyeing ma chine of the present invention indicated in generally at 10 is adapted to receive a plurality of elongated strands of textile material, as for example yarn, 12 from a creel or a similar supply unit not shown. It is advantageous to supply the strands 13 from a creel which may include attachments, known to the art, for tying in new strands, the strands being fed through the machine so that a never-ending input supply of material is provided.

The dyeing machine 10 includes an input station 14 which operates to receive and arrange the incoming strands 12 before such strands are fed to subsequent stations of the dyeing machine. It should be noted that the operation performed by the dyeing machine 10 is a continuous operation and the strands 12 are threaded through the complete machine so that diverse steps are being simultaneously 3 performed by the various stations of the dyeing machine upon different portions of the strands.

The components of the input station 14 include a stationary split rod 18, a separator comb or reed 20, and feed rolls 22 and 24 which are mounted upon the framework 16 of the machine 10. The yarn or other textile strands which are fed into the dyeing machine pass on either side of the split rod 18 which separates the incoming strands into two substantially fiat sheets of yarn. These sheets may then be easily arranged and combed back into a single sheet by the reed or comb 20. It is obvious that additional split rods 18 may be employed if the volume of the strands being fed into the machine is particularly large, and in such cases, it may be necessary to divide the strands into more than two horizontal sheets before they are fed to the comb 20.

The comb 20 is conventional in construction and includes a large number of detents for separating and arranging the strands 12. The strands are passed from the comb 20 over the rollers 22 and 24 and beneath a Walkthrough 26 which also forms a part of the input station 14. Walkthrough 26 extends transversely across the width of the dyeing machine 10, and is strategically positioned between the remainder of the input station 14 and the subsequent dyeing station 28. This location of the walkthrough 26 is of utmost importance if the dyeing machine 10 is to operate efficiently, for from the Walkthrough 26, an operator may control the dyeing machine while inspecting the incoming strands 12 before they pass through the dyeing station 28. From the walkthrough 26, the operator may remove any broken or frayed strands and is afforded easy access to the remaining strands passing through the dyeing station 28. Therefore, the operator may remove or repair broken or tangled strands before such strands are passed through the dyeing station 28 and on to cause further complications in subsequent stations of the machine 10.

The strands 12 pass from the roller 24 across a roller 30 which is supported beneath the walkthrough 26 to a roller 32 and a split bar 34 which are also supported by the walkthrough 26. The split bar 34 operates as does the split bar 18 to divide the strands 12 into a plurality of sheets, each of which contains a number of individual strands arranged in substantially the same horizontal plane.

From the split bar 34, the strands 12 pass into the dyeing section 28. The strands are first fed to an oscillating comb or reed 36 in the dyeing section which arranges the strands in substantially the same horizontal plane while imparting a lateral reciprocating motion to the strands. It is obvious that numerous mechanical structures might be employed to perform the functions of the reciprocating comb 36, but an understanding of the basic operation of the reciprocating comb may be obtained by considering in detail one such structure as illustrated by FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3, it may be noted that the reciprocating comb 36 includes a comb support block 38, the upper surface of which supports a plurality of spaced, vertically extending comb teeth 40. The portion of the oscillating comb 36 which is formed by the comb support 38 and the comb teeth 40 is substantially identical in construction to the other stationary combs employed in the dyeing machine 10, such, as for example, the comb 18. The comb teeth 40 may be of any construction suitable to provide detents which receive and guide strands of material passing therethrough, and the number of teeth 40 may be determined by the number of strands which the comb is designed to receive.

The comb support 38 is mounted for reciprocating lateral movement in a stationary guide 42 which forms a box-like structure having a bottom wall 44, side walls 46, end walls 48, and a top wall 50. The top wall 50 is provided with a transverse slot extending completely across the top wall between the end walls 38 to permit the comb teeth 40 to project outwardly beyond the surface of the top wall 50. The guide 42 is mounted upon suitable sup- 4 ports 52 which are connected to the dyeing machine frame 16.

To impart reciprocating lateral movement to the comb support 38, the lug 54 is connected to a motor 56 by means of a linkage 58. It is obvious that reciprocating movement of the comb support 38 can be achieved by using various cam arrangements or other known mechanical linkages, and the linkage 58 is illustrative of only one such arrangement. The linkage 58 in FIG. 3 is connected to a drive eccentric 60 which in turn is rotated by the motor 56. Upon rotation of the drive eccentric 60, the linkage 58 is caused to reciprocate the comb support 38 laterally with respect to the guide 42, therefore resulting in reciprocal movement of the comb 40. The comb 40 in turn causes the strands 12 of textile material which are passing through the comb to reciprocate laterally.

The laterally moving strands 12 from the reciprocating comb 36 are passed across a roller 62 onto the surface of a moving blanket 64. Blanket 64 can be formed from a belt of resilient rubber or plastic material, and it is this resilient belt which forms a backing for the strands 12 during the actual dyeing process occurring in the dyeing section 28. The blanket 64 passes over a large motor driven drive cylinder 66 and a plurality of guide rollers 68. The guide rollers 68 and the drive cylinder 66 are mounted upon the frame 16 of the dyeing machine 10, and the drive cylinder is driven by an electric motor 70.

The resilient blanket 64 constitutes an important component in the dyeing section 28 and is therefore worthy of specific consideration. The blanket 64 travels about the drive cylinder 66 and the guide rollers 68 and, at a point subsequent to the drive cylinder 66, passes through a washing solution maintained in a reservoir 72. Mounted upon the frame 16 of the dyeing machine 10 and positioned between the reservoir 72 and the drive cylinder 66 are two rotatable brushes 74 and 76 and a scraper 78. The brush 74 catches and removes broken strands of material from the blanket 64, while the scraper 78 and the brush 76 operate to remove excess dye stuff from the surface of the blanket. The brush 74 prevents stray strands from clogging the remainder of the Washing apparatus, while the scraper 78 and brush 76 remove all excess dye stuff and apply washing and lubricating liquid from the reservoir 72 to the surface of the blanket.

As the blanket 64 receives the laterally moving strands 12 from the oscillating comb 36 and guides the strands about the drive cylinder 66, the blanket also oscillates laterally in a random manner, thereby imparting an additional random oscillation to the strands 12. This random oscillation of the blanket may be perpetuated by one of the guide rollers 68, as for example guide roller 68a in FIG. 1, which is illustrated in detail in FIG. 4. The guide roller 68a is mounted upon a pivoted support 80 which in turn is mounted for movement about a pivot point 82 on a stationary support 84. Stationary support 84 may be secured to the side frame of the dyeing machine 10 in any suitable manner. The width of the blanket 64 is less than the length of the guide roller 6811, so that as the support 80 is rocked or tilted about the pivot point 82, the blanket 64 moves laterally of the roller 68a.

Continuous lateral movement of the blanket 64 is insured by micro switches 86 and 88 which are secured to either side of the support 80 adjacent the outer ends of the roller 68a. The micro switches 86 and 88 are operatively connected to solenoids 90 and 92, which are mechanically linked by linkages 94 and 96 to opposite corners of the support 80. It should be noted that micro switch 86 on the left side of the support 84 in FIG. 4 1s electrically connected to operate solenoid 90 on the right side of the support, while micro switch 88 is connected in the same manner to operate solenoid 92. Thus, as the belt 64 contacts and closes micro switch 88, solenoid 92 is activated and causes the support 80 to pivot about the pivot point 82 to reverse the lateral movement of the blanket 64, the blanket moves toward the micro switch 86. As the blanket 64 moves across the roller 68a toward the micro switch 86, the micro switch 88 is released and the circuit to the solenoid 92 is opened. Therefore, subsequent contact between the blanket 64 and the micro switch 96 results in the energization of the solenoid 90 and movement of the blanket 64 back toward the micro switch 88.

The random movement of the blanket 64 between the micro switches 86 and 88 when combined with the oscillatory movement of the oscillating comb or reed 36 imparts a random oscillation to the strands of textile material 12 which are passing along the surface of the blanket. This oscillatory movement of the strands 12, as will be subsequently explained, is employed to achieve the dyeing of single strands of material with a multiplicity of colors. When the oscillatory lateral movement of the strands 12 is a random non-repetitive movement, the pattern of colors applied to each strand of material will be correspondingly random and non-repetitive. This movement is achieved through the random movement of the blanket 64, and may be further enhanced by causing random oscillation of the oscillating reed 36 by means 'of cams or other Well known mechanical linkages. Such linkages transform and transmit the rotary movement of the motor 56 to the comb support 38 as a random oscillatory movement.

If it should become desirable to dye elongated strands of textile material with a repetitive pattern of multiple colors, it is necessary only to prevent lateral movement of the blanket 64 on the roller 68a by leveling the support 80 and locking the pivot point 82 to prevent further movement of the support. To further insure that the blanket 64 ceases all lateral movement, guards, not shown, may be positioned at either end of the roller 68a adjacent the edges of the blanket 64 to prevent the blanket from moving into contact with either of the micro switches 86 or 88.

With the blanket 64 locked against lateral oscillatory movement, a repetitive oscillatory movement of the elongated strands 12 may be achieved by instituting a controlled lateral oscillation of the comb or reed 36. The oscillation of the reed 36 in a repetitive pattern can be obtained by causing the comb support 38 to follow a single cam connected to the motor 56, or by other known mechanical linkages which transform a rotary motion into a repetitive oscillatory motion.

In the event it should become desirable to dye the strands 12 with a single color, this dyeing operation may be easily achieved by locking the blanket 64 against lateral movement and also de-energizing the motor 56 so that no oscillatory movement is imparted to the strands 12 by the oscillatory comb 36. In this case, the strands are then guided by the blanket 64 and no relative lateral movement occurs.

The functions which are performed through imparting lateral movement to the strands 12 may best be understood by referring to FIGS. and 6, which illustrate in detail the novel dyeing mechanism employed with the dyeing machine 10. As may be noted from FIG. 1, the blanket 64 passes between the drive cylinder 66 and a plurality of dye distributor rollers 98. Thus the elongated strands 12 which are fed onto the blanket 64 from the guide roller 62 are carried by the blanket into contact with the distributor rollers 98. The distributor rollers 98 are driven in synchronism by a motor 99.

Depending upon the dyeing process to be achieved, any suitable number of distributor rollers 98 may be positioned in contact with the blanket 64. The rollers 98, as may be noted from FIG. 5, are mounted upon a transverse support 100 which is in turn mounted upon the side frame 16 of the dyeing machine 10. The distributor rollers may be moved either into or away from contact with the blanket 64 by rotating the support 100.

Each individual distributor roller 98 is mounted for rotation upon the support by means of depending mounts 102 which connect with a roller axle 104. The mount 102 may be a spring mount including springs 106 which operate to press the distributor cylinder 98 into contact with the resilient blanket 64. The supports 100 for each individual distributor roller 98 are positioned in the side frames 16 of the dyeing machine 10 so that the distributor rollers are sequentially disposed about the surface of the drive cylinder 66 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

It is the novel construction of the dye distributor rollers 98 which permits the effective dyeing of individual elongated strands of textile material with a multiplicity of colors when such strands are laterally oscillated beneath the distributor rollers. These sequentially arranged distributor rollers are of equal circumference, thereby eliminating the difficulties experienced with many presently existing dyeing machines which employ distributor rollers of various diameters. Such rollers require complex individual roller drive systems to compensate for the differences in roller diameter, for it is necessary to drive each roller at a predetermined constant speed. In spite of these special drive systems, rollers having diverse diameters are subject to malfunctions which result in speed variations between individual distributor rollers. When this occurs, the strands passing beneath the rollers are subjected to contrasting stresses which often tangle, break, or mutilate the strands or otherwise result in malfunction at subsequent stations of the dyeing machine.

In addition to the deficiencies which may be caused by the varying diameter of the distributor rollers of conventional machines for dyeing individual elongated strands with a plurality of colors, it is also important to note that these machines normally employ distributor rollers which accomplish only intermittent dyeing of strands through contact between the strands and a projecting dyeing surface which does not extend about the complete circumference of the distributor roller. Thus, these rollers do not provide a continuous dyeing process accomplished by dyeing surface which extends about the complete circumference of the dye distributor roller, and with such systems, if accurate roller synchronization is not maintained, the projecting dyeing surfaces do not contact the portion of the strand intended and gaps occur.

The dye distributor rollers 98 of the dyeing machine 10 are not only of equal diameter, but additionally the roller synchronization problems which often prevailed with previous dyeing units have been further eliminated by providing the distributor rollers 98 with a dyeing surface which extends about the complete circumference of the distributor rollers. Thus, the dye distributor rollers 98 produce a continuous rather than an intermittent dyeing operation, and the maintenance of accurate synchronization between distributor rollers becomes less critical.

Each of the dye distributor rollers 98 is provided with an engraved dye applying section 108 which extends circumferentially about the roller for a portion of its width. As will be noted from FIG. 2, the engraved dye applying sections 108 of succeeding rollers 98 are offset laterally from the dye applying sections of all proceeding rollers. Thus, the dye applying section of any individual dye distributor roller is misaligned laterally with respect to the dye applying sections on each proceeding and succeeding roller. Ideally, however, the dye applying section 108 on any distributor roller should be positioned to commence at a point which is in line with the termination point of the dye applying section on the preceding roller. with the distributor rollers 98 constructed and arranged in this manner, it is apparent that lateral movement of the strands 12 beneath successive distributor roller 98 will bring the strands into contact with diverse dye applying sections 108. The width of the individual dye applying section on each successive distributor roller is determinative, to a great extent, of the time of contact between that dye applying section and any individual strand, and therefore also determines the length of the portions of any individual strand which will be dyed with the color applied by that specific dye applying section. It is obvious that the dye applying sections on succeeding rollers can be made to have varying widths to correspondingly vary the resultant color patterns which may be applied to any single strand.

The dye distributor rollers 98 do not operate in the same manner as the conventional printing rollers which have previously been used for the dyeing of elongated textile strands. Generally, these printing rollers have employed roughened or engraved surfaces which contact dye or other coloring material maintained in fluid state within a reservoir, positioned below the roller. These roughened surfaces of the roller receive and lift a portion of this coloring material from the reservoir and subsequently transfer it to the surface of a strand. Such printing techniques do not achieve strand saturation, but only result in surface printing of a strand, and therefore a printing technique is not acceptable for the effective printing of multifilament strands which should be saturated with coloring matter for complete filament dyeing. The distributor rollers 98 of the present invention achieve this strand saturation by employing deeply etched dye distributor sections which constantly receive a large supply of dye or other coloring material from a novel supply structure. This supply structure is well illustrated by FIGS. and 6, where it will be noted that each dye distributor roller 98 is provided with a doctor blade 110. The doctor blade 110 is supported upon a support arm 112 which may be mounted upon the shaft 104 of the distributor roller or which may extend independently from the roller support 100. The doctor blade 110 contacts the engraved surface of the dye applying section 108 and operates to evenly distribute a pool of dye or other coloring material over the surface of the dye applying section. However, it has been found that engraved printing rollers cannot receive and carry sufiicient dye material from a reservoir positioned below the roller to achieve the saturation of a strand to be dyed, and therefore, the doctor blade 110 is provided with side walls 114 so that the doctor blade, in combination with the side walls and the surface of the distributor roller forms a reservoir for a pool of dye or coloring material. This coloring material is furnished to the reservoir by a supply tube 116 which extends from dye containers 118 suspended over the distributor rollers 98 by a support 120. The flow of dye or coloring material from the containers 118 may be controlled by a manual valve, but ideally, this supply is controlled by an electric valve 122 positioned on the lower portion of the dye container 118. The electric valve 122 may be any one of a number of conventional electric valves which is adapted to operate in response to a levelsensing mechanism so that the valve 122 will be actuated in accordance with the level of the liquid dye present on the doctor blades 110. To render the valve 122 level responsive, a liquid level senser 124 is mounted on the side wall 114 and is electrically connected by a connection 126 to control the valve 122 in response to the level of dye on the doctor blade.

The dyeing station 28 is particularly adapted to achieve the effective dyeing of elongated strands composed of a plurality of individual filaments, and therefore the dyeing machine can be employed efiiciently to process yarns or similar multifilament strands of textile material. The dye distributor rollers 98 saturate these strands with dye or coloring material while pressing each strand into the resilient blanket 64 to insure thorough dyeing of each strand. Additionally, the combined action of the reciprocating comb 36 and the blanket 64 minimize strand separation and filament abrasion. The blanket 64 is continuously lubricated in the wash reservoir 72 so that the strands 12 slide easily over the surface of the blanket as they are reciprocated by the comb 36, and the reciprocation of the comb 36 combined with the lateral movement of the blanket 64 causes the strands 12 to roll across the surface of the blanket, thereby tightening the individual filaments within each strand to preclude strand separation. The continuous washing of the blanket 64, in addition to providing a lubricant for the blanket, also removes all dye stuffs from the blanket to prevent smudging of the incoming strands by residual material on the face of the blanket.

From the dyeing station 28, the strands 12 pass to a post dyeing station 126 which includes facilities for fixing the dye and washing, and further treating the strands 12. First, from the dyeing station, the strands 12 pass into a steam-fixing unit 128 mounted upon the side frame 16 of the dyeing machine. Fixing unit 128 constitutes a boxlike structure which is connected to receive heated steam from any conventional steam generator, not shown. The front wall of the fixing unit 128 is provided with an opening 130 through which the strands 12 pass when entering and leaving the unit. As the strands 12 are saturated with unset dye or coloring material when they enter the fixing unit 128, it is important that such strands do not contact the surface of the unit surrounding the opening 130. Therefore the fixing unit is mounted upon the dyeing machine 10 in such a manner that the strands are fed from the belt 64 into the fixing unit without contacting the surfaces surrounding the opening 130. Mounted for rotation within the fixing unit 128 are a plurality of guide rollers 132 which propel and guide the strands 12 through the fixing unit. The guide rollers 132 are driven by a motor 134 mounted upon the frame 16 of the dyeing machine, and driving power from the motor to the rollers may be furnished by any suitable mechanical drive connection. Ideally, all of the rollers 132 may be driven from the motor 134 by means of a belt which extends along the outside of the fixing unit enclosure.

The dye saturating the strands 12 is steam set within the fixing unit 128, and the strands are then passed about a guide roller 136 and a split rod 138 mounted upon the frame of the dyeing machine to washing reservoirs 140 and 142. The washing reservoirs are divided by a plurality of motor driven squeeze rollers 144, 146, and 148 which are mounted upon the frame of the dyeing machine and are driven by a motor 150. The squeeze rollers 144, 146 and 148 propel the strands 12 through washing solutions contained in reservoirs 140 and 142, and between each washing the squeeze rollers remove excess washing fluid from the strands.

From the washing reservoir 142 and the squeeze rollers 148, the strands 12 are directed through an oil reservoir 152 and then between motor driven squeeze rollers 154 and about a split rod 156 to a dryer section 158. In the oil reservoir 152, a coating of oil is applied to the washed strands 12 to restore the finish to the strands which was removed by the dye fixing and subsequent washing operations. The oil for the oil reservoir 152 is pumped from an oil storage tank 160 by an oil pump 162.

The squeeze rollers 154 following the oil reservoir 152 are driven by a motor 164, and operate to propel the strands from the oil reservoir to the drying section 158. The drying section may employ many known drying elements, but in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the drying section includes a plurality of heated drums 166. The drums 166 are supplied internally, with steam or a similar heated agent, and the strands 12 are dried as they pass about the heated drums. The drums are mounted for free rotation upon the side frame 16 of the drying machine, and may rotate in a free wheeling manner at various speeds in accordance with the speed of the strands passing through the drying section.

From the drying section 158, the dry strands 12 pass about a plurality of split rods 168 and through a comb 170 to a motor driven delivery roller 172. The motor driven delivery roller is powered by a motor 174, and operates to feed the strands to separating guide rollers 176 mounted upon the frame of a take-up station 178.

Take-up station 178 is especially adapted to receive 9 dyed and finished strands 12 and direct such strands selectively to groups of take-up storage cylinders indicated at 180 and 182. The storage cylinders 180 and 182 are driven by motors 184 and 186 mounted upon the side frame 16 of the dyeing machine 10.

As the structure associated with each take-up storage cylinder of the take-up station 178 is identical, an understanding of the construction and operation of such structure may be obtained from considering only that associated with the take-up cylinder 182a in FIG. 1. The strands 12 to be Wound upon the take-up cylinder 182 are fed across the separator guide rollers 176 to a guide roller 188, which, like the separator guide roller 176, is mounted upon a frame 200 secured to the side frame 16 of the dyeing machine.

From the guide roller 188, the treated strands 12 are fed across a comb or reed 202 to an oscillating roller 204. The oscillating roller 204 is especially adapted to prepare the treated strands 12 for reception by the take-up cylinder 182a, and therefore the structure of the oscillating roller is worthy of particular note.

Referring to FIG. 7, the oscillating roller 204 is mounted for rotation between a pair of upright supports 206. Supports 206 are secured to the support 200 and position the oscillating roller above the take-up cylinder 182a. The oscillating roller is mounted upon a roller shaft 208 which extends through the upright supports 206 and is moveable laterally relative thereto. A spring 210 extends between one of the supports 206 and the roller 204 and biases the roller toward the left in FIG. 7 so that a cam follower 212 mounted on the opposite end of the roller shaft 208 is caused to follow a cam 214. Cam 214 is secured to the shaft of a motor 216 and, when rotated by the motor, causes a lateral oscillating movement of the roller 204 against the bias of the spring 210. Thus the treated strands 12 which are fed onto the oscillating roller 204 from the comb 202 and then to the take-up cylinder 182a are twisted first in one direction and then reverse twisted in the opposite direction by the oscillating action of the roller 204. The strands themselves are prevented from oscillating with the roller by the comb 202 and the take-up cylinder 182a. This reverse twist of the strands before they are wound upon the take-up cylinder precludes filament separation and additionally insures that the strands will be wound smoothly upon the take-up cylinder and may be easily unwound therefrom without tangling.

The motors 70, 99, 134, 150, 164, 174, 184, and 186 for driving the elements at the various stations of the dyeing machine 10 are each individually adjustable so that the drive speed of each motor may be varied in accordance with the condition of the strands 12 as they pass over a particular motor driven component of the machine. Ideally, these motors constitute DC synchronous motors which may be controlled from a common control panel, and additionally, the motors 184 and 186 should be torque motors of the type which vary the speed of the driven take-up cylinders 180 and 182 as the supply of dyed strands builds up on the cylinders. It is through the agency of these motors that the operation of the dyeing machine 10 is accurately controlled in accordance with the condition of the strands 12 at various points throughout the machine, and this accurate control is imperative if effective machine operation is to be obtained.

The dyeing machine 10, as previously described and as illustrated by FIGS. l-7, provides a novel and preferred structure for effectively accomplishing the strand dyeing process of the present invention, although it is apparent that this process could be achieved by dyeing machines having components which structurally differ from those of the novel dyeing machine 10. Basically, the novel method of this invention contemplates the effective dyeing of elongated textile strands by inducing relative lateral movement between the strands and a color application mechanism during a dyeing or coloring process. Although, in some cases, the mechanism for applying color to the strands may be moved laterally with respect to strands having no lateral movement, in the dyeing of multifilament strands, it is much more advantageous to induce lateral movement of the strands. This strand movement is particularly elfective when the multifilament strands are laterally moved against a backing sheet, which operates to roll the strands and tighten the individual strand filaments to preclude filament drift during the dyeing operation. This step of minimizing filament drift occurs at several points in the novel process of this invention and constitutes an important feature which particularly adapts the process for effective use with multifilament strands.

The detailed steps of the novel process of the present invention for providing improved, dyed strands become quite apparent from a consideration of the steps performed by the dyeing machine 10. In this process, the strands are first arranged, subjected to a dye application step, subsequently subjected to post-dyeing treatment wherein the dye is set, and then twisted before winding. Each of these general method steps may then be broken down into specific substeps which constitute important factors in producing improved dyed strands. For example, in the dyeing step, the advantages obtained through oscillating the strands laterally with respect to the dye applying member and a backing sheet have been previously emphasized. Additionally, it should be noted that in the post-dyeing step, a superior dyed strand is achieved through steam setting the colored strands after dyeing, then washing the colored strands, and finally applying an oil finish to the colored strands to restore the finish which was removed in the dye setting and washing operations. Additionally, the structural coherance of the final product is insured by the step of twisting and countertwisting the treated strands after a final drying step to tighten the individual filaments of the strands, prevent subsequent filament separation, and facilitate winding in storage. All of the steps of this method combine to provide an improved dyed strand.

It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention provides a novel and improved dyeing machine especially adapted for universal usage to selectively provide multi-colored, individual strands which are dyed with a nonrepetitive pattern, multi-colored individual strands dyed in a repetitive pattern, or a plurality of individual strands dyed with a single color. This versatility cannot be achieved with conventional dyeing machines.

It will be additionally apparent that the present invention provides a novel process for producing improved dyed strands of textile material, and particularly multifilament strands which are kept intact during a complete dyeing and treating operation.

The arrangement and types of components utilized within this invention may be subject to numerous modifications well within the purview of these inventors who intend only to be limited to a liberal interpretation of the specification and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dyeing machine for dyeing a plurality of individual, elongated textile strands, a dye application mechanism comprising support means, a plurality of dye applying means mounted upon said support means and operable to apply dye to said elongated strands, and conveying means mounted upon said support means and operative to position said strands to receive coloring material from said dye applying means, said conveying means operating to move said strands longitudinally past said dye applying means while simultaneously causing lateral movement of said strands relative to said dye applying means sufiicient to move said strands to receive dye from at least two of said dye applying means, said dye applying means being 1 1 arranged laterally with respect to the direction of Iongitudinal movement of said strands.

2. The dye application mechanism of claim 1 wherein said plurality of dye applying means constitute a plurality of dye applicator surfaces, each of which extends over the entire width of a respective one of a corresponding plurality of contiguous zones parallel to the direction of travel of the strands.

3. The dye application mechanism of claim 2 wherein said dye applicator surfaces are spaced in relation to one another in the direction of longitudinal travel of said strands.

4. The dye application mechanism of claim 2 wherein said conveying means includes a continuous belt of resilient material for supporting said strands, and drive means for driving said belt to bring said strands into contact with said dye applicator surfaces.

5. The dye application mechanism of claim 4 wherein said conveying means includes guide means for said endless belt, said guide means being operative to cause random lateral movement of said belt relative to said dye applicator surfaces.

6. The dye application mechanism of claim 5 wherein said dye applying means includes a plurality of rotatable dye distributor rollers mounted in succession upon said support means, a portion of the surface of each such dye distributor roller being provided with a circumferential dye receiving section to form said dye applicator surfaces, and means to supply dye to said dye receiving sections.

7. The dye application mechanism of claim 6 wherein said conveying means includes a rotary drum positioned upon said support means to support a portion of said endless belt beneath said distributor rollers and in contact therewith, said drum and belt operating in conjunction 12 with said distributor rollers to exert a squeezing pressure on said strands as they pass beneath said distributor rollers to force dye into the body of said strands.

8. The dye application mechanism of claim 7 wherein belt washing means is mounted on said support means to receive said endless belt subsequent to the contact between said belt and distributor rollers, said belt washing means operating to clean and lubricate the surfaces of said belt.

9. The dye application mechanism of claim 4, which includes reciprocating means mounted upon said support means, said reciprocating means operating to feed said strands onto said belt in a substantially flat sheet and to move said strands laterally in contact with the surface of said belt to achieve a rolling motion thereof.

10. The dye application mechanism of claim 6 wherein said means to supply dye to said dye receiving sections includes blade means mounted adjacent said distributor rollers, said blade means contacting the surface of said distributor rollers to form a reservoir for dye, and means to supply dye to said reservoir.

11. The dye application mechanism of claim 10 wherein said means to supply dye to said reservoir includes automatic valve means to control the output of said dye, said automatic valve means being controlled by level sensing means positioned in said reservoir.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 747,306 12/1903 Keefer 68202 X 1,488,299 3/1924 Thomayer 68202 X 2,351,729 6/ 1944 Whitehead et al 68202 WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner 

